Monday, 31 May 2010

Agrigold, an AP-based company is spreading its tentacles fast through the State of Andhra Pradesh. Its owner Mr V R Rao is a former employee of now extinct Golden Forest Ltd, which vanished with several hundreds of crores of public money with the promise of easy and quick money and now facing criminal cases. It never returned the deposits it collected from public with the promise of high returns. Its representatives then claimed that it has huge tracts of land all over India and there is no threat to their deposits with the company. They never revealed that the company has no permission from the Reserve Bank of India to collect deposits from public.

Now, Golden Forest's employee is enacting the same drama and collecting deposits from public. The promise is same. The company owns several hundreds of acres and if necessary it would be sold to repay the depositors. This company also has no permission from the Reserve Bank of India.

Not surprisingly, these depositors are from the lowest strata of the society. The daily wage earning labourers are induced to deposit as low as Rs. 10 per day on the promise of a piece of land in near future. The representatives who get huge commissions on these deposits which amount to 30 per cent, never reveal that there is actually no sufficient land on earth to allot pieces of land to all these depositors. Moreover, many of these depositors stop paying after some time and the company never refunded these amounts to them. If someone asks, they threaten that the company would deduct penalty from the deposit. Several hundreds of crores of these deposits remained unclaimed with the company.

Like Amway India, the Agrigold also has several levels of fancy titles for its representatives. It offers attractive commission to them for mobilising deposits. The lowest level representative is called primary sales distributor and above him are senior sales distributor, executive sales distributor, marketing and sales distributor, marketing regional distributor, marketing area distributor, area super distributor, area super distributor-1, area super distributor-2, area super distributor-3, area super distributor-4 and area super distributor-5.

Right from the primary sales distributor, every one has to enroll ten members and depending upon the enrollment, the commission keeps on going up. From the 4th level onwards the title holders would get easy money, consisting of benefits of supervisor and group income which purely depend on the enrollment of new members into the scheme and not depend on the sale of products. And what product--a piece of land. The promoters know pretty well that if one person enrolls ten persons, at one point world population will be over and due to mathematical impossibility, crores of people would be cheated.

Recently, as part of its expansion, the Agrigold has added an amusement park in its kitty with the name 'HaaiLand' which was inaugurated by the Honourable Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr K Rosaiah.

The Agrigold has already forayed into several manufacturing units including Ayurveda medicine, easy-cook instant foods, cosmetics, spa and yoga centres. All these were started with people's. In case of failed activity in any of these ventures, they need not worry about loss. Just they need not repay the deposits.

If all these ventures are profitable, the Agrigold could approach commercial banks and raise loans. But it has chosen to raise deposits from the gullible poor who cannot question or demand their monies back.

Sadly, the ginning billionaire bosses of the 'Amway' mob have paved the way for grinning copy-cats like the multi-millionaire bosses of the 'Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing' mob. The quantifiable evidence proves that the US-based 'Direct Selling Company' most-commonly referred to as 'FHTM', is an absurd fake which hides a typically pernicious (blame-the-victim) closed-market swindle, or money circulation scheme, camouflaged by wampum. Instead of the sanctimonious charlatans behind this swindle being investigated by the FBI, and then wheeled before a judge to face serious criminal charges, only the illegal activities of one of their expendable corporate fronts have been examined by an (effectively) toothless civil regulator, the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. As a result (after offering to refund some of its victims and paying an affordable fine) 'FHTM,' although identified as shielding a vast fraud, has been given the green light to steal from more US citizens.

Currently in the USA, all manner of vile little crooks are being allowed to perpetrate fraud, secure in the knowledge that, even if their expendable 'MLM' corporate fronts get caught, they will not face criminal charges themselves. Yet the federal Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act was introduced 40 years ago to deal with exactly this type of major organized crime. The setting up of mystifying labyrinths of corporate structures engaging in unlawful, and/or lawful, enterprises in order to prevent, and/or divert, investigation and isolate their wealthy bosses from liability, has been clearly identified as a pattern of major racketeering activity.

Friday, 28 May 2010

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Several prominent Carolinians, including the wife of former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, have signed on as sales reps for a multi-level marketer recently fined as a "pyramid scheme."

Donna Lewis joined Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing, known as FHTM, in December 2008 at the invitation of her friend, Charlotte television personality Barbara McKay.

Last month FHTM agreed to pay almost $1 million in refunds and fines to settle a claim by the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance that the multi-level marketer was a "pyramid promotional scheme."

"It is truly not a pyramid," Donna Lewis said, when reached by phone at her home. "It's helping people in this horrible economy make a living."

Lewis said she joined FHTM but is not actively involved in selling the program or products.

"I just did it to tell a few people about it who really needed help," she said.

Some FHTM sales reps used Lewis' name to promote the company, even publishing websites that erroneously link the name of the former Bank of America chief executive to the scheme.

"He is not involved at all," said Donna Lewis, adding, "If he thought it was wrong he would not let me be involved."

"Ken Lewis has never been a part of the company," said Barbara McKay, a fixture on WBTV-TV for more than two decades. "But he was confident I would never lead her into anything that wouldn't be good for her."

McKay says she entered Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing as a representative and is now an "Executive Manager."

FHTM claims to have signed up hundreds of thousands of representatives to sell products from well-known brands like GE, Dish Network, Travelocity and Home Depot.

But videos posted by the dozen to websites like YouTube and Facebook show FHTM recruiters emphasizing the recruitment of yet more sales reps.

"When you get your first three people signed up as a business owner you all have made $300, and then we will teach them the exact same thing and do everything in our power to repeat the process," Fortune rep Todd Rowland, a former high school coach from Arkansas, tells a packed meeting room.

Reps pay a fee of $299 to join the company, reduced after the Montana action to $199.

FHTM has charged still more fees for training and website development.

"And in the process very few actually sell a product," said Bob Fitzpatrick, a Charlotte watchdog who monitors pyramids with his website PyramidSchemeAlert.org.

Websites for some FHTM reps list other prominent Carolinians to bolster the company's credibility, but who denied involvement. They include former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, who said he'd "never heard of it. I have absolutely no connection." Also listed but denying involvement in FHTM -- NASCAR legend Geoff Bodine, who said, "I'm not involved. Someone signed me up. They're trying to use my name."

Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing settled the Montana complaint on April 22, agreeing to pay up to $840,000 in refunds and $100,000 in fines, plus $50,000 to the state's Investor Protection Trust. North Dakota also ordered FHTM to cease and desist doing business in that state without proper licensing and FHTM paid a $12,000 fee.

FHTM CEO Tom Mills told WHAS-TV, "I have a great deal of respect for the people from both North Dakota and Montana. The authorities handled it appropriately in my mind, and I think we've come to an agreement and we're moving forward. We're still doing business in their states."

The Better Business Bureau in Lexington, Ky., the company's home, has given Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing a grade of "F".

"From all I can tell about this operation it's primarily about recruiting other people into the network," said Charlie Mattingly, CEO of the Louisville BBB. "So I would say people should be cautious."

A spokeswoman for the North Carolina Attorney General says her office is concerned about FHTM, but so far the company has paid refunds promptly in response to complaints.

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Hundreds of companies are using the direct selling route to run Ponzi schemes. It's probably time to blow the whistle on them.

EZEEBIZ: Translation, anyone? The company recently launched a set of four Hindi-to-English books and cassettes (Price: Rs 6,615). Distributors enrol by purchasing a set but can earn returns only by signing on more distributors, not selling the books.

LIFE CARE: The company that sells privilege cards and toiletries has 90,000 distributors. None could be seen at its distribution centre. Now, Life Care is diversifying into durables and gift products.

STERLING LIFE: Its Delhi distribution is abuzz with activity; distributors from lower middle-class families are scrambling to pay Rs 17,500, and buy durables they do not need, and can't even sell. Their income is dependent on their ability to hire more distributors

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The district centre in Delhi's western borough Janakpuri presents an impressive sight. In heaving Delhi it is an oasis of order: neat rows of shops; covered corridors that protect shoppers from the scorching summer sun; and enough underground parking to accommodate a fleet of Hummers. Should you take the trouble to visit, you can't miss hordes of young men, some probably still in college, sporting black ties with a legend that says SL. In the basement of District Centre, JainaTower I, is the Delhi office and distribution centre of a relatively unknown company, Sterling Life (SL) India. The young men are its distributors.

At first sight, Sterling Life India appears to be just another network marketing company-those that sell through networks or parties-in the same league as "the Amways and Avons of the world", as Jeet Kalsi, Sterling's Managing Director, claims. It sells consumer durables (coffee makers, water heaters, colour televisions, and vacuum cleaners) through a network of distributors. And what a network that is; in three years of existence Sterling Life has acquired an enviable 45,000 distributors across seven North Indian cities, including Delhi.

All one has to do to become a distributor with Sterling Life is to buy consumer durables worth Rs 17,500. "Well, this amount, being significant, makes the distributor feel he is investing in a business, and therefore makes him serious about the business," is how Kalsi explains the higher-than-high entry-cost. Most known direct sellers charge a nominal entry fee; Avon charges nought. Sterling is a unique multi-level marketer in more ways than one. The products distributors buy is rarely sold; they just need to buy them, whether they need another television or not. Distributors earn virtually their entire commission on new referrals and not on product sales. Indeed, of the company's sales of Rs 50 crore, just around Rs 1 crore comes from such business. The rest comes from new distributors.

There's more to this unique business model: distributors aren't eligible for refunds; and when something goes wrong with a product, and it can't be repaired, "we simply replace it with a new one," in the words of Kalsi. By the end of this year, Sterling hopes to add 30,000 distributors to its network (that's a cool Rs 52.5 crore in sales).

Pyramid schemes are illegal in India; the Prize Chit and Money Circulation (Banning) Scheme Act, 1978, bans them. But direct marketing is alright, and don't network marketers reward distributors for hiring more distributors? It didn't take long for some unscrupulous, but wholly legal, companies to come up with the kind of get-rich-quick-through-direct-marketing schemes that appeal to Indians. They purport to sell everything from privilege cards, soaps and cosmetics, grocery products, durables, vacations, books, educational CDs, gold coins, even sun beads.

Take the case of the two-year old, Rs 40-crore Life Care, a 90,000-member strong New Delhi-based company, ostensibly selling a discount card and a range of cosmetics and toiletries, all eponymous. When this writer visited its office-plus-distribution centre in Rohini, a residential area in North-West Delhi, the outlet supposed to dispense products was locked. It was subsequently opened for this writer's benefit, but there wasn't a single distributor in sight-strange, for a company that claims 15,000 active distributors in Delhi alone. "I am discontinuing the existing scheme, and starting a new plan with unlimited depth," says the apologetic Chairman, Pramod Khullar, when told that his company's direct marketing scheme seems more like a money-chain than anything else.

HOW IT WORKS?The M.O. of unscrupulous direct marketers.

STEP 1: The law bans pyramid money schemes......So call yourself a direct marketer and identify a product you can sell

STEP 2: Sell this product to distributors but don't encourage them to re-sell....... Instead reward them for identifying more distributors

STEP 3: Build the chain of distributors......as long as you can continue to, the Ponzi scheme will not come unstuck

Companies such as Life Care can operate with impunity, reasons Sameer Modi, Managing Director of direct seller Modicare, because there are no specific laws governing direct selling in this country. Most countries, including Malaysia and South Africa, regulate their direct selling industries through specific legislation. In India, the concerned ministry, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, states that, "...The need for a separate legislation was not felt in view of the fact that there are adequate provisions available in the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, (for regulating the sale of goods); the Indian Contract Act, 1872, (for the sale of services) and the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, (to promote and protect the rights of the consumers." That doesn't really help, says Harmeet S. Pental, the President of the Indian Direct Selling Association, because, by the time these laws can be called into effect, the damage is done. "Pre-emption and not just redressal is the need here," adds IDSA's Pental. (In fact, all the members of Indian Direct Selling Association are indulging in illelgal money circulation schemes.-Ed)

The law can't touch these companies because they have a product to show. "Where the business thrives more on structure of business rather than actual product sale, our suspicions are raised,'' says S. Krishnamoorthy, an Indian Police Service officer, handling crime in Chennai. "There is no question of everybody benefiting, somebody always loses.'' Yet, the police has not made much headway in its investigations into the activities of Conybio Healthcare, a direct seller of toothpaste (minimum price Rs 210) and sun beads (Rs 15,000).

There's no shortage of gulls. Another Chennai-based company, GoldQuest International hawks a gold coin at Rs 43,000, a 100 per cent premium over what it should cost. It has found 12,000 takers even though D. Hemchandra Rao, President, Madras Coin Society, warns that, "In the case of GoldQuest, the coin is neither a period coin nor is it by an authorised body (like government mints)." But the company's Country Head Pushpam Naidu defends it by saying: "GoldQuest is well within its rights to operate in India and I have a document from the Minister of Consumer Affairs that says so." (Now she is facing a criminal case both in the States of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh of India. Ed.)

Over 37,000 people have already bought an e-shop for Rs 5,000 each, from the New Delhi-based First Biz Network! Heard of Revolution Forever? The company's main product is a discount card priced at Rs 6,500 (it has 15,000 distributors). Ezeebiz has over 55,000 distributors for a set of four basic Hindi-to-English translation books and audio cassettes priced at Rs 6,615 besides other packages. And Pune-based Infiniteopps offers computer education packages starting at Rs 1,350 (it has over 1,00,000 customers and 15,000 distributors).

Almost every one of these companies has a binary direct selling plan that rewards distributors for recruiting other distributors. "Binary plans, by and large, are just recruitment-focussed and walk a thin line from being a pyramid scheme," explains IDSA's Pental, who is also Managing Director of the Rs 100-crore Avon Beauty Products. IDSA estimates that there could be 1,000 such companies out there, paying unsustainable returns of around 80 per cent on sales (some of the crooks pay 40 per cent.) largely for recruitment. At average sales of Rs 3-4 crore, the size of this industry is around Rs 4,000 crore (the actual number could be much larger), far higher than the Rs 1,723-crore organised and legitimate direct selling industry in India.

Buoyed by the lack of regulation, more unscrupulous entrepreneurs are entering the business. In the past six months, 39 new members sought membership of IDSA, with just two being shortlisted for consideration, a measure of the rot that has set in the industry. And existing ones are diversifying. First Care is moving into durables and gift hampers; Sterling Life and Revolution Forever into toiletries and cosmetics. And all of them believe there is nothing illegal (there isn't) about their business. "We're not pyramid, but binary," says Manmohan Gupta, Chairman, Interworld.Com. "And who is IDSA to cast aspersions on our model?" Not that these aspersions count for anything: IDSA reported the activities of First Biz Network to Delhi Police in April 2003 ("...we feel is operating money circulation scheme..."), through a letter to the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kalkaji (a South Delhi neighbourhood), in whose jurisdiction the company is based. Nothing much happened, because existing laws are geared for redressal, not pre-emption. (But this is not true. The police could take suo motu action even on mere suspicion that there is some illegal money circulation scheme is going on. Generally they turn a Nelson's eye for extraneous considerations.)

Things will probably continue in the same tenor until a large pyramid scheme company disguised as a direct seller goes under (all pyramid schemes are based on the company's ability to keep growing its base of distributors; the minute its network stagnates, its business becomes unsustainable). By then, it may be too late.

Saturday, 22 May 2010

The Advocates of Amway India appealed to the Andhra Pradesh High Court that they would like to submit a fresh affidavit. Probably they want to submit that the Amway India has changed its business model and they are now collecting only Rs. 995 as entrance fee for the 'great business opportunity'. The question is not the new business plan and whether it is legal or not. The question is the crime it has already committed and is going to commit in the new avatar.

However, the new business plan still illegal as it induces to enroll new members all the time. As per the 6-4-3 plan, The members have to enroll new members and their downline members have to enroll new members. The argument that it is only an example does not hold water.

Let us look at the lastest Supreme Court judgement in a similar case. In the Kuriachan Chacko case, the Supreme Court stated that the promoters of the scheme very well knew that it is certain that the Scheme was impracticable and ;u;n workable making tall promises which the makers of the promises knew fully well that it ;could not work successfully. It could work for some time in that "Paul can be robbed to pay Peter" but ultimately when there is a large mass of Peters, they will be left in the lurch without any remedy as they would by then have been deceived and deprived of their money. IF it is so, it could be said to be a case of application of Section 420 read with Section 34 of IPC, of course at this stage.

What Amway is actually doing is a money circulation scheme camouflaged with the sale of products. It is liable for punishment and it would be punished accordingly. The Amway India is only buying time.

Wednesday, 19 May 2010

If you compare the exact detail of the two public interest bankruptcy petitions which were filed by UK government trade regulators against 'Treasure Traders Corp. Ltd.' and 'Amway UK Ltd.', you find some pretty alarming differences in the way they were worded - considering the fact that both these corporate structures were discovered (by the same team of UK civil investigators) to be counterfeit 'direct selling companies' hiding essentially the same, foreign-controlled closed-market swindle or illegal money circulation scheme.

Amongst other things, 'Treasure Traders' was directly accused of operating a 'business' in the UK which involved the commissioning of criminal offences in breach of the Fair Trading Act of 1973. In brief, the UK government's case centred on the key-facts that the banal 'Treasure Traders' wampum had been (effectively) unsaleable to the general public and that promotion, and compensation, in the unviable 'Treasure Traders' scheme had, therefore, actually been based on illegal recruitment and self-consumption rather than on its participants retailing goods to the general public for a profit. 'Treasure Traders' was ordered to hand over to the UK High Court all of the illegal cash it had previously acquired in the UK, but the company was automatically bankrupted, and closed, because it didn't have sufficient capital assets to cover this huge new liability. Thus, Alan Kippax was allowed to get away with stealing millions of pounds from thousands of UK citizens. The only penalty he suffered was the actual loss of one of his many counterfeit corporate fronts. To date, no criminal investigation has been pursued.

Unlike the 'Treasure Traders' petition, UK government lawyers mysteriously stopped short of directly accusing the so-called 'Amway Business' of involving the commissioning of criminal offences under the Fair Trading Act of 1973. Indeed, the 'Amway' petition made the key facts that the banal 'Amway' wampum had been (effectively) unsaleable to the general public and that promotion, and compensation, in the 'Amway' scheme had, therefore, actually been based on illegal recruitment and self-consumption rather than on its participants retailing goods to the general public for a profit, into minor issues. Inexplicably, the same government lawyers made into a major issue, the minor issue that nominal, illegal 'registration' and 're-registration' fees had been charged by 'Amway UK'. Thus, to the UK High Court and Judge Norris, 'Amway UK Ltd.' (a company that had never declared an annual trading profit) appeared only to have been taking illegally about £50 -£100 annually from each participant in the UK, when the actual theft was several thousands £ annually per active victim. Even though (over a period of 34 years), 'Amway UK Ltd.' was proved to have collected tens of millions £ in so-called 'registration' and 're-registration' fees in breach of the Fair Trading Act of 1973, the company was not ordered to hand over all this illegally-acquired cash to the UK High Court. Thus, even though 'Amway UK Ltd.' did not have the capital assets to cover such a huge new liability, Judge Norris refused to order the company's automatic closure under the Insolvency Act of 1986. Furthermore, unlike the 'Treasure Traders' petition, UK government lawyers mysteriously made no attempt to explain to the UK High Court that the corporate officers of 'Amway UK Ltd.' were merely the agents of crime-bosses in N. America. Thus, the billionaire bosses of the 'Amway' mob have been allowed to get away with stealing tens of millions of pounds from hundreds of thousands of UK citizens. The only penalty they suffered was the effective loss of one of their many counterfeit corporate fronts. To date, no criminal investigation has been pursued.

Of late, many criminal cases are being filed against several cheating companies in India. It shows the Indians are slowly coming out of their beliefs of fatalism. Generally, Indians leave the cheats to their fate that the would be punished for their cheating. Now it is changing slowly.

The other day, a criminal case was filed against Kunnath Pharmaceuticals Ltd, which is marketing its Musli Power X-Tra making tall claims that it is a world-class product. It claims that it cures the problem of erectile dysfunction. It produces certificates from a long list of doctors and celebrities though it is not clear whether they have actually used it for their personal problem or not. Interestingly, it also claims that its success rate is 74 per cent. Whenever any person complains, they would take the umbrella that they fall in the 26 per cent category of failures.

Not surprisingly, the police have yet to take action against the erring companies for obvious reasons.

Now criminal cases are being filed against another cheating company, France Vitas. This gang is hoodwinking people to use their product which is nothing but pineapple extract, to shed extra flab. They claim that obese people could eat whatever amount of food they wanted while using a single table spoon of their product and they would actually lose those extra kilos. Several cases were already filed and many people are thinking to come out open.

In both the instances, advertising such products is banned under the Drugs & Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1958 and liable for punishment up to six months imprisonment.

In spite of the technical advances and information easily available, how Indians are falling for this kind of spurious products is amazing. Are we really such gullible?

My dear fellow humans all over world! Do not fall prey to the machinations of these crooks. There is nothing like easy and quick remedy to your problems whether they are financial, physical or psychological.

When you read the judgement handed down by the UK High Court against Alan Kippax' 'Treasure Traders Corporation Ltd., 'http://webmusic-musiqueweb.org/WMMW_Site/WebDemos/dt1/tti_uk_judgement.pdf, it beggars belief that (for almost 5 more years) he was allowed to continue to operate the identical (blame-the-victim) fraud in Canada. This extraordinary document reveals that the successful public interest bankruptcy petition that was filed by UK civil regulators against Mr. Kippax' fraudulent UK-registered company in 2005, was essentially the same as the unsuccessful public interest bankruptcy petition filed by the same regulators against the equally-fraudulent 'Amway UK Ltd.,' around 12 months later. The only differences were in the exact wording used by the UK government's attorneys to present their case, but, given the evidence, there can be absolutely no doubt that 'Amway UK Ltd.' and 'Treasure Traders Corporation Ltd.' were merely the constituent parts of international labyrinths of corporate structures maliciously designed to hide the same closed-market swindle, or illegal money circulation scheme, behind (effectively) unsaleable wampum, prevent criminal investigation, and isolate their instigators from liability.Indeed, both companies were found by astonished UK trade officials to be (effectively) controlled by foreign-based racketeers, and not their declared UK-based corporate officers. Amazingly, the failed-defence put forward by the (effectively) powerless corporate officers of 'Treasure Traders Corporation Ltd.' was essentially identical to the successful-defence put forward by the (effectively) powerless corporate officers of 'Amway UK Ltd.' They both held up their hands and accepted that their companies had previously been in breach of UK Trading Schemes legislation, but they insisted that they had now taken radical steps to ensure that their companies' future activities would comply with UK law.

In the case of 'Amway UK Ltd.' (a secretive private company that was forced to admit to having been permanently insolvent and to having been flouting UK Trading Schemes legislation for 34 years), the UK High Court allowed it to remain registered, provided its previously unlawful activities were modified, but, mysteriously, the UK High Court did not recognise the fact that 'Amway UK Ltd.' had been used to run a foreign-controlled, illegal money circulation scheme behind (effectively) unsaleable wampum. However, the UK High Court appointed no independent mechanism to verify that the promised-modifications would be introduced, let alone enforced. The ongoing criminal activities of the US-based racketeers behind 'Amway UK Ltd.', in countries like India, were (and are) of absolutely no concern to UK regulators or to the UK High Court. Sadly, the failure of the UK authorities to close 'Amway UK Ltd.' has been used as a fake guarantee of legitimacy in countries like India.

In the case of'Treasure Traders Corporation Ltd.' its business was judged by the UK High Court to 'involve the commissioning of criminal offences in breach of the UK Fair Trading Act of 1973.' This legislation makes it a criminal offence to sponsor any economically-unviable, or pyramid, trading scheme in which the sponsors' revenue comes mainly from their recruits who pay money in order to participate. 'Treasure Traders Corporation Ltd.' was found to have been hiding such an illegal scheme, even though the payments had been arbitrarily defined by Mr. Kippax as 'retail purchases.' The merchandise (industrial emeralds) which the scheme's sponsors offered, was found to be of such little real value that no one (other than participants in the scheme themselves) was buying it, but Kippax had gone to the most extraordinary lengths (including the co-opting of 'Independent Jewellery Experts') in order to fool the authorities and his victims. Unlike the case of 'Amway UK Ltd.,' the promises made to the UK High Court by, Mr. Peter Kippax, the chief corporate officer of 'Treasure Traders Corporation Ltd.,' that the company's previously unlawful activities would, henceforth, be modified, were rejected out of hand. Since the declared capital assets of 'Treasure Traders Corporation Ltd.' were then insufficient to cover the repayment to the UK High Court of all the millions of pounds of illegal payments made by the company's previous, and current, victims, the company was automatically bankrupted and closed under the Insolvency Act of 1986. Although he was known to have defrauded countless UK citizens, as a Canadian citizen, Alan Kippax remained out of reach of the UK authorities. No criminal case was pursued in the UK against his cousin, Peter Kippax, who was a UK citizen.

Alan Kippax is currently serving a 3 year jail sentence in Canada for his key-role in the death of Peter Kippax.

Sunday, 16 May 2010

The vile Canadian 'MLM' racketeer, Alan Kippax, was exposed as a deranged liar and a thief on the CBC television programme, 'Marketplace'.http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2009/easy_money/main.html.To any person watching this shocking programme with fully-functioning critical faculties, the journalists involved could not have been more charming, polite, or restrained when dealing face to face with the bombastic, and arrogant, little shyster who was running the so-called 'BIM Corporation.' However, after the programme was broadcast, a sad little flock of deluded victims began to bleat on Internet forums where Mr. Kippax and his 'BIM' fraud were being roundly-condemned. These sheepish contributions were remarkably similar to those still being regularly posted by the unmasked 'Amway' Squealer, Mr. David J. Steadson, in defence of the 'Amway' mob:

I did watch the Market place "investigation" (aka...slanderous junk) of BIM. It amazes me that CBC, a network funded by our tax dollars, could "air" such a biased "investigation". All they did was take a BIM distributor who got kicked out of the company for breaking the rules of the corporation. I'm amazed Scott had the guts to go on National television after doing what he did. I found the whole Marketplace piece laughable. Well done, Marketplace. You've proved yourself to be "investigative" jokers once again. This company (BIM) is doing well because it works.

Fortunately, many of Mr. Kippax' less-deluded victims watched 'Marketplace.' As a result, a significant number began to confront the ugly truth that they'd been fooled by attractive lies. At this point, belief in the open-market authenticity of the absurd 'BIM' closed-market collapsed over-night, because the supply of fresh victims dried-up. Not only that, but Mr. Kippax' imminent sentencing for his key-role in the death of his cousin and the maiming of an innocent young couple, was being widely-reported by the Canadian media. Mr. Kippax''MLM' victims were soon abandoning him in droves, so he announced the closure of his company. First of all, he blamed his critics and the media for telling lies about his previously successful company, but then he blamed his vicitms for refusing to work. With his narcissistic fantasy-world falling apart, Mr. Kippax organized a conference-call for his remaining, deeply-deluded co-narcissists. Probably 2-3 hundreds took part, and this disturbing event was infiltrated and recorded by Dave Thorton. First of all Mr. Kippax recited a long, reality-inverting tirade. He then allowed some of his unquestioning adherents to speak. Many used an openly-religious terminology. In brief, they told Mr. Kippax (who steadfastly pretends to be a pious Christian) that they still love and trust, and pray for, him.

Despite a mountain of quantifiable evidence proving him to be an abusive charlatan, his deluded little flock faithfully bleated that they would happily return to his fold when the Good Shepherd Kippax gets out of jail.

Saturday, 15 May 2010

I thought that your readers might like to know that Mr. Alan Kippax, one of the vile 'MLM' racketeers whom the billionaire bosses of the 'Amway' mob have spawned, has just been sentenced to 3 years in prison http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/blog/2010/04/alan-kippax-sentenced-to-three-years-in-prison.html . His criminal career has now been put on hold. Mr. Kippax has blamed everyone, but himself (including his victims, the Canadian media, his critics, etc.), for the failure of his 'Business In Motion Corporation.'

Despite the fact that Mr. Kippax has cheated thousands of people out of their time and money, he has never faced the slightest criminal enquiry into his so-called 'MLM Business' activities. After being caught running an absurd closed-market swindle in the UK behind the counterfeit corporate front of'Canadian Treasure Traders Ltd.', Mr Kippax was allowed to abscond back to Canada with millions of stolen dollars which he then used to set up the same (blame-the-victim) racket using the equally absurd 'Business In Motion Corporation.' The only move made by the UK authorities against Mr. Kippax involved the bankrupting and closure of his fake 'direct selling' company on the grounds that it could not repay millions of pounds of registration fees which had been charged contrary to UK trading schemes legislation. Previously, Kippax had steadfastly pretended to offer the 'World's Best Business Opportunity' which, he also steadfastly pretended was based on selling good value, high-quality, exclusive emeralds. Each victim of these scripted lies was told that he/she would be an 'Independent Business Owner' who could buy emeralds at wholesale prices and then retail them for a profit to their relatives, friends and neighbours.

In reality, no one actually earned an overall profit from buying Mr. Kippax' emeralds and reselling them. His 'MLM' wampum was widely-available and had little real market-value. Consequently, there was no demand. Not only that, but Kippax set no limits on the numbers of so-called 'Business Owners.'Since it was virtually impossible to generate real profits from retailing the 'MLM' wampum, it was not that difficult for Mr. Kippax to persuade his more vulnerable victims that they could actually make money if they recruited more people into the 'Business Opportunity'. Each victim was offered a 'bonus' from the purchases made by his/her new recruits. Each victim was offered more 'bonuses' when their recruits found recruits of their own. Each of these new victims, in turn, was offered 'bonues' on their own recruits and on the recruits of their recruits, ad infinitum. Mr. Kippax' 'BIM Corp.' was used to run the identical money circulation scheme camouflaged behind 'good-value, high quality, exclusive travel products,' which turned-out to be widely-available elsewhere at much lower prices.

Today, UK trade officials at the Ministry for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform are unable to make any comment on why Mr. Kippax was allowed to steal from thousands of UK citizens, but never face any criminal enquiry. In the UK, civil regulators are prevented by law from investigating, let alone prosecuting, criminal acts. Yet, provided a foreign-based 'MLM' racketeer, like Mr.Kippax, operates behind a legally-registered UK corporate structure, then his criminal activities will only be initially investigated by toothless UK trade officials under civil laws. Virtually the identical situation exists in Canada. Sadly, the present situation in both countries, is a license to thieve.

Thursday, 13 May 2010

The billionaire bosses of the 'Amway/Quixtar' mob, and most of the copy-cat 'MLM' racketeers whom they have spawned, have steadfastly pretended to offer the 'World's Best Business Opportunity' which, they also steadfastly pretended is based on selling good value, high-quality, exclusive products, and/or services. Each victim of these scripted lies has been told that he/she will be an 'Independent Business Owner' who can buy products, and/or services, at wholesale prices and then retail them for a profit to their relatives, friends and neighbours.

In reality, for more than 50 years, virtually no one has actually earned an overall profit from buying 'MLM' products, and/or services, and reselling them. The 'MLM' wampum has been too expensive. Equivalent products, and/or services, were available at lower prices in traditional outlets. Consequently, there has been no real demand for 'MLM' wampum. Not only that, but 'MLM' racketeers have never set any limits on the numbers of so-called 'Business Owners.' Despite all these insurmountable hurdles, even if by some miracle the victims have managed to sell some 'MLM' wampum for a profit, the allied costs and time required for promoting, buying, collecting, delivering, etc. have made such limited retail activity, economically unviable.

Since it has been virtually impossible to generate real profits from retailing 'MLM' wampum, it has not been that difficult for 'MLM' racketeers to persuade their more vulnerable victims that they can actually make money if they recruit more people into the 'Business Opportunity'. Each victim has been offered a 'bonus' from the purchases made by his/her new recruits. Each victim has been offered more 'bonuses' when their recruits find recruits of their own. Each of these new victims, in turn, has been offered 'bonues' on their own recruits and on the recruits of their recruits, ad infinitum. For decades, 'MLM' victims have been told that the way to make big money is based on duplicating a proven plan of self-consumption and recruitment of other people to duplicate the same plan. According to this plan, 'sales' will expand geometrically. e.g. When a 'Business Owner' recruits 5 people who each recruit just 5 more, then the 'Upline Business Owner' at the top, will have 25 in his/her 'Downline', and that 'Business Owner' will receive a 'bonus' on all purchases made by everyone in the 'Downline'. Even though virtually none of these recruits will ever be able to sell any 'MLM' wampum, they buy it. The so-called 'bonuses' have, thus, been paid on these internal purchases, not on external sales.Theoretically, 25 recruits can recruit 125 more, etc. etc. ad infinitum.

Just as the claim that anyone can earn profits by selling the MLM products, and or services, is a lie: the theory that anyone can build a large 'Downline' is also false. Common sense and simple arithmetic reveals that for someone to be at the top: most must remain at the bottom. Only an insignificant minority can achieve the level where the so-called 'bonuses' are paid. However, in order for the victims to 'qualify' to receive the so-called 'bonuses' on their purchases and on those from their 'Downline' recruits, they must keep purchasing. So chronic victims continue to buy the 'MLM' wampum, and to put pressure their recruits to continue to do the same. The more they try to recruit others: the more their waste of time and money grows. It is as this stage, that the next phase of 'MLM' swindles kick in.

Wednesday, 12 May 2010

The unmasked 'Amway' Squealer, Mr. David J. Steadson, now steadfastly pretends that all the tens of millions of constantly-churning victims of the 'Amway' swindle were just 'Consumers,'but the billionaire bosses of the 'Amway' mob spend millions of dollars of their ill-gotten gains trying to convince the world that their approximately 3 millions current, but soon-to-be-churned, victims are all 'Independent Business Owners.' Curiously, Mr. Steadson has made thousands of posts on the Net. hidden behind the reality-inverting alias 'IBO Fight Back.'Perhaps he will now change his disguise to 'Consumer Fight Back.' Amazingly, the person who posted this expensive'Amway' propaganda video on Youtubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrbccIxe12A&feature=relatedin which Mr. Steadson's so-called 'consumers' are all arbitrarily defined as 'Independent Business Owners,' was none other than Mr. Steadson himself (albeit in one of his other disguises).

The simple fact that Mr. Steadson cannot refute, is that, during the previous 50+ years, hardly anyone who was not a deluded non-salaried commission agent of 'Amway' has ever bought any products, and/or services, from the organization. The banal products and services were merely a red herring to disguise illegal payments in a camouflaged closed-market swindle or money circulation scheme in which victims were peddledinfinite shares in their own finite money.However, this swindle has merely been the entrance to a series of much more-profitable advance fee frauds. To hide this pernicious racket,'Amway' propaganda constantly repeats certain, reality-inverting key words and images: 'Business', 'Freedom', 'Security', 'Family', 'Friendship', 'Opportunity','Hope', etc.

In the adult world of quantifiable reality, the billionaire bosses of the 'Amway' mob have left a grim trail of debt, destitution, depression, dissociation, divorce and even death. In the light of the wider-evidence, their kitsch propaganda is enough to make any decent person want to vomit.

One of our readers informs that TVI Express claimed that UNICEF was its partner and on verification it was learnt that it was not true. Thank you reader for passing on information.

All these crooks and fraudsters make tall claims. In a movie, a mafia don who was arrested by the police makes a false claim that he has been close to many politicians and movie stars. He also says that it would take at least ten years to verify that it is false and he would walk out free in the meantime.

This is how these crooks make believe the gullible that they are good people to do business with. Amway India does it all the time. Recently, it invited the police commissioner of Hyderabad and the Principal Secretary of the Home Department to the 5K run in the city of Hyderabad. The unsuspecting police officer and the IAS officer fell for the invite. When Corporate Frauds Watch reminded them that Amway India is named one of the cheating companies listed in the websites of their departments, they realised their folly. The website of the Hyderabad Police clearly named Amway India as one of the cheating companies indulging in money circulation scheme.

Tuesday, 11 May 2010

I see that one of the poor, intellectually-castrated, and/or economically illiterate, creatures of whom I recently spoke, has put in yet another typically-feeble appearance on your Site. The puerile and abusive Mr. Scott 'Tex' Johnson is indeed one of the overwhelming majority of the powerless and ill-informed persons whom the unmasked 'Amway' Squealer, Mr. David J. Steadson now arbitrarily defines just as 'consumers,' but who have actually been the insolvent non-salaried commission agents of 'Amway' andwho have been conditioned to believe the pernicious lie that by 'Exactly Duplicating a Proven Plan' of recruitment and self-consumption, anyone can 'Achieve Total Financial Freedom.'

All the quantifiable evidence (including his own dismal accounts) proves that Mr. Scott 'Tex' Johnson has spent 17 years of his adult life as the de facto slave of billionaire racketeers. Thus, also proving thatall (so-called)'Amway Businesss Owners' are equal, but some (so-called) 'Amway Business Owners' are more equal than others.

When faced with the ego-destroying reality that he has been abused and exploited by racketeers, Mr. Johnson's only response is to hurl puerile abuse at the free-thinking individuals who are trying to tell him the truth. However, this is the classic response of a cult adherent. Unfortunately, there have always been people who would rather die than think. I am reliably informed that, as a result of his 17 years of insolvent 'Amway'activities, Mr. Johson doesn't have a dime to scratch his own backside, but, illogically, he still blindly worships the billionaire bosses of the'Amway' mob.

One of our readers Mr Jagdish Deshmukh wants to know whether ATCR is a fraud or not. The main problem is the gullible people like Mr Jagdish. Though it is open and could see, they still believe that these crooks are nice and honest people. They are carried away by the propaganda of the company and the sweet talk of the sales people. They find it hard to believe that they are going to be cheated sooner than later.

People should watch for two main ingredients. If you are asked to become a member by paying some amount for purchasing some product or service, you should suspect their intention. If you are told that you would earn a lot of money if you enroll more members into the scheme, then it is certainly a money circulation scheme.

These companies including the mother of all scams, Amway, would not survive without enrolling new members. That is why these crooks keep on looking for new 'bakras' (lambs) to join the scheme though almost all of them get disillusioned soon.

ATCR is also doing just the same. In the name of selling tourism packages and club resort time-sharing plans, it is just indulging in money circulation scheme. It is high time, people who come across such fraudulent companies should directly go to the police if they live in India and lodge a complaint under the provisions of the Prize Chits & Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.

I observe that the unmasked 'Amway' Squealer, Mr. David J. Steadson, has taken it upon himself (on behalf of his de facto bosses) to answer the vital question:

Where exactly do all the so-called 'bonuses' come from in the so-called 'Amway Business Opportunity?'

Unfortunatey, Mr. Steadson's precisely-worded, but typically inaccurate, answer, 'from the sale of products to consumers, just like any other product based business,' is puerile nonsense for the consumption of intellectually-castrated, and/or economically illiterate, creatures; for the overwhelming majority of the powerless and ill-informed persons whom Mr. Steadson arbitrarily defines just as 'consumers,' have actually been the insolvent non-salaried commission agents of 'Amway' who have been conditioned to believe the pernicious lie that by 'Exactly Duplicating a Proven Plan' of recruitment and self-consumption, anyone can 'Achieve Total Financial Freedom.' Indeed Mr. Steadson might just as well have copied George Orwell's 'Squealer' and replied: All 'Amway Businesss Owners' are Equal, but Some 'Amway Business Owners' are More Equal than Others.

For decades, the embarrassing truth about where all the so-called 'bonuses' come from in the so-called 'Amway Business Opportunity', has been deliberately occulted by the billionaire bosses of the 'Amway' mob in order to continue to commit fraud. More than 50 years of quantifiable evidence, including mountains of kitsch 'prosperity-gospel' propaganda peddled to tens of millions of failed so-called 'Independent Amway Business Owners,' proves beyond all reasonable doubt that, exactly as in the case of Bernie Madoff's so-called 'Hedge Fund',the so called 'Amway Business Opportunity' is an absurd, camouflaged closed-market swindle that has never generated any significant or sustainable revenue other than the cash which came internally from its own victims whom the instigators have arbitrarily defined as 'Independent Business Owners' or lately, 'Consumers' (rather than 'Investors').

As ever, Mr. Steadson (an amoral little shit with a psychology degree who self-evidently has been co-opted by billionaire racketeers to obstruct justice) has nothing substantial to say when faced with the ugly of reality that lurks behind the rapidly-crumbling façade that was once the mighty 'Amway Corp'. True to form, Mr. Steadson, simply ignores the message and tries to character-assassinate the messenger, but this is the classic tactic of a failing-totalitarian regime whose sanctimonious, charlatan leaders are losing their absolute monopoly of information.

Imagine, Shyam, Mr. Steadson (a demonstrably puerile and abusive young fellow who has foolishly hidden behind the mask of a fictional, multi-faced assassin and thief, but who has claimed to be just your average 'Amway' entrepreneur with a degree in psychology) would have your readers believe that he's perfectly happy about being subject to a unilateral contract with an organization that itself has been under the control of individuals who are proven racketeers who set up a Mafia-style labyrinth of counterfeit companies internationally in order to steal more than C$100 millions from the people of Canada and avoid being held to account.

Given just this snippet of information, anyone with fully-functioning critical faculties wouldn't touch 'Amway' with a barge pole, let alone sign a series of unilateral contracts with the organization.